NBC Today Show Transcript

SHOW: TODAY (7:00 AM ET)
November 1, 2000, Wednesday
HEADLINE: SENATOR JOSEPH LIEBERMAN DISCUSSES PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
ANCHORS: KATIE COURIC

BODY:
KATIE COURIC, co-host: Election Day is now just six days away. In these closing days of the race we invited both men who would be vice president to make one last appearance with us. Dick Cheney, who's declined every one of our invitations since July, once again passed. Senator Joseph Lieberman did accept, though. He's in the critical battleground state of Florida.

Senator Lieberman, good morning. Thanks for joining us.

Senator JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (Democrat, Vice Presidential Nominee): Good morning, Katie. Good to be with you. I'm at a firehouse here in Hollywood, Florida.

COURIC: Well, you are in the Sunshine State. As the old ad campaign used to say, you need it bad. What are you doing down there?

Sen. LIEBERMAN: Well, I'm meeting as many people as I can, talking about the—the wisdom of keeping the progress going in America. Why change horses—why get on a horse going in the wrong direction when you've got to change horses in midstream? We—we've had a great eight years, let's keep it going with Al Gore. And we're getting a great response.

Actually, this is a state where we never expected, and I think our opponents didn't expect us, to be as competitive as we are today. And I've been paraphrasing Frank Sinatra and singing or saying here, if we win it here, we'll win it everywhere. Florida is key.

COURIC: You know, there are a lot of senior citizens down there, so it's no big surprise that you're hammering away at Social Security. You've said that the Bush plan doesn't add up. Governor Bush says he'll put aside $ 2.4 trillion from the budget surplus—surplus to protect Social Security. So what's wrong with that?

Sen. LIEBERMAN: Well, if I were George Bush I suppose I'd say the Social Security plan is full of "fuzzy math." The really tough part of—and inadequate part of the Bush plan for Social Security is the fact that he has this privatization idea, which he hasn't really fully developed or told us exactly how it would work. But he—he's taking a trillion dollars in the Social Security fund out. And if you do that for these privatized accounts, by 2023, 23 years from now, Social Security fund runs out of money. That means anybody who's 39 years or older today, been putting into Social Security, expects to have that benefit when they retire 23 years from now, Governor Bush has to explain how he's going to cover those checks they expect. So that's the big fault. Both of us, I think, both tickets are talking about locking the rest of the surplus into the trust fund. The problem is that Governor Bush is going to take out that trillion bucks and you just can't make it work. You can't promise it to young people and older people at the same time and have it work. That's not right.

COURIC: But Senator Lieberman, Governor Bush says you're trying to scare people into the voting booths.

Sen. LIEBERMAN: Well, we're not going to—we're not trying to scare people. We're just factually describing what Governor Bush's plan does. In fact, in the third debate with Al Gore, George Bush acknowledged that he does take that trillion dollars out of the trust fund. But he hasn't told us how he's going to cover the Social Security checks if he does that. So it's the old Harry Truman line about giving them hell. We're just telling—telling the truth and they just claim it's hell.

COURIC: In—in recent days you've been very forceful questioning George W. Bush's readiness to be president. Are years of experience in the government really a necessary prerequisite for the presidency? Because some people might say experience outside government...

Sen. LIEBERMAN: Right.

COURIC: ...in the private sector, can be invaluable, and—and a political—or strictly a political career can be quite limiting.

Sen. LIEBERMAN: Yeah, Katie, it's a fair question. Look, experience in government is certainly not the only way to be an effective leader in government. But I think it helps. And I think in the case of Al Gore, you look at his record in national and international experience, you look at his experience in Congress and the executive branch, most people agree that Al's been the most effective and involved vice president in our history. And this is a big job, president of the United States. Then compare that to not just the fact that Governor Bush has only been the governor of a state, but really I'm talking about his record in Texas. And bad on environmental protection, on health insurance and health care for women and children.

We thought it was a good record on education. Lately, there have been some independent reports that have said that's not true.

Senior citizens in Texas nursing homes experiencing some bad conditions because the state Medicaid payment is way down. The NATO idea that he had awhile ago, 'Pull our'—Governor Bush said, 'Pull our troops out of NATO—out of the Balkans with NATO.' NATO allies, our best allies, really were upset. Now he's changed that position.

So I'm saying, looking at all that, looking at his plans for the future of America, which will take us back into debt and higher unemployment, I don't think that on that record Governor Bush, with all respect, is ready to be the kind of president America needs now to keep us going forward.

COURIC: Because...

Sen. LIEBERMAN: And Al Gore really is.

COURIC: Senator, we were looking back in history, you know, Woodrow Wilson had less experience in government than George W. Bush. He was governor of New Jersey for just two years before being elected...

Sen. LIEBERMAN: Right.

COURIC: ...president and is really considered a good president by many.

Sen. LIEBERMAN: Sure. No, that's what I say, it's not absolutely necessary to be involved in government to be a good president. Woodrow Wilson had been president of Princeton University and—before being governor of New Jersey. But I'm really talking here, comparing the two records, comparing the experience of the two candidates, and then looking at their ideas for the future of America. Al Gore and I are committed to keeping our government smaller, keeping it in balance, having it reflect the values of people in this country. And I honestly think that Governor Bush will take us back to the old ways of debt, higher interest rates, lower stock market, not where we want to go.

COURIC: Senator...

Sen. LIEBERMAN: So, putting it all together, I just don't think he's ready for this very important office.

COURIC: Let—let me move on to another individual, Ralph Nader. You have said a vote for...

Sen. LIEBERMAN: Sure.

COURIC: ...Nader is a vote for George W. Bush. But you're widely considered a man of principle. Why shouldn't people vote their conscience if they feel very, very strongly that they want to make a statement, or that Ralph Nader is their pick? Why not say...

Sen. LIEBERMAN: Sure.

COURIC: ...you know, vote—vote your conscience?

Sen. LIEBERMAN: Well, good question, Katie. Look, anybody who really feels deeply that they want to vote for Ralph Nader, that's their right. I'm just saying to them that if you look at the practicality—Ralph Nader's not going to be president of the United States. It's going to be George Bush or Al Gore. And I'm asking the people who are thinking about voting for Ralph, think about the issues that matter to you, like environmental protection, consumer protection, right to choose, campaign finance reform, and do you—on all—all of those will be threatened if Governor Bush is elected president. Do you really want your vote for Ralph Nader, which is a kind of personal, philosophical or protest vote, to bring about the election of George Bush, who is—who thinks so differently than you do on so many of these issues?

COURIC: OK.

Sen. LIEBERMAN: That's—that's the judgment that they have to make.

COURIC: All right.

Senator Joseph Lieberman.

Senator, thanks again for joining us this morning.

Sen. LIEBERMAN: Thanks, Katie. Great to be with you. Have a good day.

COURIC: Thank you.